Sheryl Sandberg and The Great Gender Debate

Lean In : Women, Work, and The Will To Lead
Release date: March 11, 2013
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN-10: 0385349947

With the release of her new book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Facebook's Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, is creating quite a stir and once again the media is buzzing with the great debate of women in the workplace.  As I was viewing her interview on 60 Minutes, (this interview can also be found here on Salon), something about her choice of language immediately caught my attention and left me


questioning how her position with Facebook may affect her credibility.  Sandberg asserts that one of the things holding women back from achieving leadership roles is their concern for their reputation.  Women worry about being "liked".  Although a valid assertion, I find this to be rather ironic when I consider the fact that she works for Facebook where as we all know, we are continually encouraged to "like" each other and can quickly become preoccupied with the process of "liking". Sandberg's  points are certainly valid on all levels and I openly welcome any writing that can generate further discussions to benefit women in the workplace,  however, I can't help but wonder if this particular assertion regarding women would have greater credibility if it were coming from someone else, such as Hillary Clinton perhaps? (Wouldn't that be an intriguing read?)